Are You Ready for Some Pepsi-and-Chicken Flavored Potato Chips?

There’s Pepsi and there’s chicken. Two great tastes, certainly — but are they two great tastes that go great together? Shoppers in China are about to find out as Lay’s unrolls their brand new Pepsi-Chicken flavored potato chips in local stores.

Lay’s launches a new flavor every year. In past years, that has meant that Chinese shoppers have been confronted with Lay’s chips flavored with lemon tea, cucumber and hot-and-sour fish soup. However this time the company’s goal was fusion. “We thought it would be really cool to have a cola combined with chicken. … It’s a very popular dish in China,” said Richard Lee, chief marketing officer in China for PepsiCo, which owns Lay’s parent company Frito-Lay. Speaking to AdAge, Lee added that they thought “it would be very cool to involve one of our most-iconic soft drinks.” Thus Pepsi-Chicken chips were born.

While some consumers may find the flavor combination unpalatable, Lays knows their market demographics. Chicken cooked in cola is a common dish in China. Recipes abound on the internet and YouTube showing chicken wings tossed into a wok along with soy sauce, spices and cola. AdAge claims that the taste is “vaguely similar to barbecue with a sugary aftertaste. If there’s any hint of Pepsi, it’s fleeting and lacks fizz.” Sounds like movie theater Pepsi to us.

There’s Pepsi and there’s chicken. Two great tastes, certainly — but are they two great tastes that go great together? Shoppers in China are about to find out as Lay’s unrolls their brand new Pepsi-Chicken flavored potato chips in local stores.

Lay’s launches a new flavor every year. In past years, that has meant that Chinese shoppers have been confronted with Lay’s chips flavored with lemon tea, cucumber and hot-and-sour fish soup. However this time the company’s goal was fusion. “We thought it would be really cool to have a cola combined with chicken. … It’s a very popular dish in China,” said Richard Lee, chief marketing officer in China for PepsiCo, which owns Lay’s parent company Frito-Lay. Speaking to AdAge, Lee added that they thought “it would be very cool to involve one of our most-iconic soft drinks.” Thus Pepsi-Chicken chips were born.

While some consumers may find the flavor combination unpalatable, Lays knows their market demographics. Chicken cooked in cola is a common dish in China. Recipes abound on the internet and YouTube showing chicken wings tossed into a wok along with soy sauce, spices and cola. AdAge claims that the taste is “vaguely similar to barbecue with a sugary aftertaste. If there’s any hint of Pepsi, it’s fleeting and lacks fizz.” Sounds like movie theater Pepsi to us.